A complexity and approximation framework for the maximization scaffolding problem

We explore in this paper some complexity issues inspired by the contig scaffolding problem in bioinformatics. We focus on the following problem: given an undirected graph with no loop, and a perfect matching on this graph, find a set of cycles and paths covering every vertex of the graph, with edges...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theoretical computer science Vol. 595; pp. 92 - 106
Main Authors: Chateau, A., Giroudeau, R.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 30.08.2015
Elsevier
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ISSN:0304-3975, 1879-2294
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We explore in this paper some complexity issues inspired by the contig scaffolding problem in bioinformatics. We focus on the following problem: given an undirected graph with no loop, and a perfect matching on this graph, find a set of cycles and paths covering every vertex of the graph, with edges alternatively in the matching and outside the matching, and satisfying a given constraint on the numbers of cycles and paths. We show that this problem is NP-complete, even in planar bipartite graphs. Moreover, we show that there is no subexponential-time algorithm for several related problems unless the Exponential-Time Hypothesis fails. Lastly, we also design two polynomial-time approximation algorithms for complete graphs.
ISSN:0304-3975
1879-2294
DOI:10.1016/j.tcs.2015.06.023